Deadpoet’s Cave

Backup Blog

Published

on Thursday, 15 May 2008

. 2 Comments

Since I last blogged, Adrian informed my that my sidebar had been spammed.

I was using an old version of Wordpress, so I decided it was time to upgrade for security reasons. Upgrading the software is a bit of the hassle, one of the joys of running a blog off your own webspace.

Everything was going well. In fact, the new version was already installed.

For some inexplicable reason, I was presented with a screen with only one button. It presented me with a username - admin - and a password. I clicked the button and…

I was presented with a brand new blog!

Posts, comments, everything… gone.

So, I did something I’ve never done before - rolled back my blog from a backup. I didn’t know whether this would work. Thankfully, it did.

Went through the installation again, just to get back to the new square one. I took the opportunity to get rid of old plugins and install new ones.

And play with sidebar widgets.

But my installation-loss-reinstallation experience brought something back to mind - a blog backup.

You see, when I pass on, I want my blog to persist.

Unfortunately, my domain and webspace only exist because the living me continues to pay for it.

When I go, this blog goes. Not good, eh?

I searched high and low for an elegant solution.

Nothing.

Either not future-proof or clunky.

The only thing I knew that was I wanted to cross-post to http://acroamatic.wordpress.com/.

For now, the solution is something I’ve resisted for a long while because I am so used to online posting. I like the Dashboard (especially with the Leopard Admin plugin shown at the top). I like Wordpress’ online interface.

I have to forgo the Dashboard for an offline blogging application. This allows me to cross-post to another blog more easily than having to log in to two different blogs online.

It’s still a manual process though.

For now, it’ll do.

Singapore’s Southern Ridges Linked!

Published

acroamatic

on Monday, 12 May 2008

in Hear Ye and Heritage

. 2 Comments

South-west Singapore is relatively hilly terrain. Nothing to shout about in terms of height above sea-level, but as NUS students and staff will tell you, there is a reason why it is called Kent Ridge.

As a Pasir Panjang Guide, I was delighted to read that the bridges linking the Southern Ridges have been officially opened. Now, we have almost unobstructed access to the various parks in south-west Singapore thanks to the bridges which span Alexandra Road and Henderson Road respectively.

ST produced an excellent infographic (click on the image above to see it in its full glory) and an accompanying article, which can be found at Pasir Panjang Stories.

Blogging kaki Walter has already run up those hills!

Me, I’ll walk.

Infographic from Sunday Times p. 3, 11 May 2008.

Little, Part 1

Published

acroamatic

on Sunday, 11 May 2008

in Photos

. 2 Comments

Thanks for introducing me to the cafe!

Paul Scholes, he scores goals!

Published

acroamatic

on Wednesday, 30 April 2008

in Sports

. 0 Comments

Scholes, he scores goals

Well, just one last night - his first in almost a year, but an important one for Manchester United.

Another game which United did not control, although the players did not give away the little possession they had as easily as they did in the first leg.

On one hand, I felt it was an underwhelming performance. United fans have been pampered with attacking football throughout the season. Lately, there have been lots of draws, a couple of narrow wins and that unfortunate debacle at Stamford Bridge.

On the other hand, United are back in the European Cup final! Restricting Barcelona to no goals over two games takes some doing. So what if the match stats look damning?

Moscow, here we come! Bring on Chelsea or Liverpool.

Unrelated note: If Thaksin sacks Eriksson, he’s nuts. Owners and fans don’t give managers any time to build a team. Good luck to the blue half of Manchester.

Photo from The Times.

New customer service paradigm

Published

acroamatic

on Tuesday, 22 April 2008

in Musings and Tech

. 3 Comments

On the bus this morning, I remembered reading about customer service in yesterday’s ST. The main thrust of the article was that Singaporeans love to bitch and moan about things in private, both online and offline. Not many want to make a stand by sending in an official complaint or take their grievances up to CASE.

Must a complaint be sent through official channels before it is acted upon?

No doubt most blog owners consider their blogs their own personal sphere. Those really paranoid about privacy will have totally private blogs. The rest are at least vaguely aware that anything they say there can be surfaced elsewhere. It’s probably a “it’ll never happen to my blog ‘cos I don’t say anything of public consequence” mentality. So, those who complain on their blogs never expect anything to be done about it.

This is an opportunity to surprise customers!

There are many tools to track mentions of your product/service(s). Google Alerts is a good place to start. Subscribe you your company’s name or some other relevant terms. Let the complaints and compliments - bloggers do give praise when its warranted - go straight to your inbox.

The rest, as SDU once (in)famously proclaimed, is up to you. =)

Do note, if your product/service name is too generic, trying to track online mentions might be tricky.

Photo by Michael Porter, from here,
reproduced under a CC by-nc-sa 2.0 licence.